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Monday, February 28, 2011

It’s Official!

All my talk about a “new project” and putting together book proposals wasn’t just a tease. The publishing industry is such that discretion rules until a deal goes through. But the mailman has handed me the contract, all signed and legal, so now I can share.

I’m writing a brand new mystery series for New American Library, which is a division of Penguin. We’re still working out the series title and individual book titles. The first book will be out next year. I’ll keep you apprised as things progress.

The books are paranormal, contemporary, cozy mysteries, a sub-sub-genre if there ever were one. I’m waist-deep in the first one right now and enjoying the heck out of this new cast of fun characters. And guess what? They’re set in – you guessed it – Savannah, Georgia!

Last week’s travel included fun, food, and plenty of what naturalists call “ground truthing.” For them it’s a physical field check, usually for certain species of flora and fauna. For me it was a combination of verifying the tons of research I’d already done and gathering the kind of sensory data that’s specific to a place. Plus, I met loads of cool people.

I’ll be writing the new series under the name Bailey Cates – Penguin likes pen names – and am working on a website for the books. I’ll let you know when it goes live, and will link to it from Hearth Cricket.

However, the Savannah mystery will soon occupy the corner of my desk, and the galley proof for Wined and Died will move front and center for review. Then back to the paranormal cozy, which is due to the publisher in a couple months.

And then? Home Crafting Mystery #6! Sophie Mae and her crew are alive and well, finding bodies and suspects galore in Cadyville. In the meantime, there’s plenty to do in preparation for the July release of Home Crafting Mystery #5, Wined and Died: Bookmarks and postcards to design and order, videos to make, a blog tour as well as personal appearances to arrange, and much more.

13 comments:

If ever there was a perfect setting for a paranormal cozy mystery, Savannah is definitely it. :) Your books are what got me back to enjoying mysteries after a long hiatus, so I'm happy there will soon be more of them in the world!

I live in Colorado and write culinary and gardening mysteries as Bailey Cates, Bailey Cattrell, and Cricket McRae. Here you'll find a little book news, a lot of recipes, and musings on the writing life.